


Carnival

by 0bviousLeigh



Series: Yuma is a Girl [16]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Gender or Sex Swap, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 14:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12191610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0bviousLeigh/pseuds/0bviousLeigh
Summary: The first day of the World Duel Carnival is underway, and Yuma has a lot of crap to put up with.





	Carnival

**Author's Note:**

> This is my rewrite of episodes 27-30

Yuma scowls as Mr. Heartland presses a button on a comically large remote, and the confetti canons behind him explode, raining a rainbow down on the spectators. People all around are smiling and cheering, but it’s hard for Yuma to be happy now that she knows someone here probably caused Rio to be burned. The WDC is officially open, and Kite is nowhere to be seen. Neither is Ryoga, and Yuma can only hope that he’s not going to be too mean to whoever he faces. Yuma filled all her friends in on what Ryoga told her, and she told them about her and Astral, but not what Astral said about her and Ryoga. They were more interested in her and Astral than Rio, but they don’t know Rio so Yuma can hardly blame them.

Tokunosuke chatters excitedly about how many duels he’ll win and how he’ll have so many heart pieces he could make three hearts. Tetsuo scolds him for bragging, Takashi rolls his eyes, and Cathy giggles.

Kotori links her arm with Yuma’s. “So, where should we go?” She asks.

Yuma is about to answer, but she sees something flying towards them. She unhooks herself from Kotori and catches the thing hurtling at them—a ball, inexplicably covered in cards.

Yuma’s anger flares. “WHO BELONGS TO THIS?!” She bellows.

Several people back away, but a smug looking boy saunters over. “That’s mine,” he says, and he looks like he wants to say more, but Yuma cuts him off.

“The hell is your problem?!” She demands, chucking the ball that the boy’s head. He bats it away, but Yuma stalks over to him and gets in his face. “You almost hurt me and my friend over there,” she says, pointing at Kotori. “What would you have done if you gave her a black eye? Or if you broke my nose?! Don’t you know it’s rude to throw things into crowds? I have half a mind to report you to the police for attempted assault!”

The boy scowls. “Will you calm down? It’s just a soccer ball, I was using it to find my first opponent and I found you.”

“So you kicked it at me on purpose?!” Yuma screeches. “Why I oughta—”

“Easy, girl!” Tetsuo cries, running over and taking hold of Yuma’s shoulders. “He’s just a dumb kid.”

The boy’s eye twitches. “Dumb kid?! You wanna duel me, you oaf?!”

“OYE!” Yuma and Tetsuo shout. Tetsuo releases Yuma, and she jabs her finger at the kid. “Nah boy, you’re dueling me!”

“Fine,” the boy says with a sneer. “I’ll enjoy taking your heart piece.”

The two of them back away from each other and turn on their duel disks. The AR field engages, and the boy’s name flashes up on a screen above his head— Kakeru Kunitachi.

“Where have I heard that name before?” Yuma hears Takashi mutter.

Astral appears beside Yuma. “Be careful,” he warns, “You’re angry, don’t let it control you.”

“Hmph,” Yuma says. She eyes Kakeru. “Since you almost maimed me, I’m going first.” She sets Gogogo Golem face down in defense mode.

“Smart,” Astral says. “I see you’ve decided not to be quite so reckless with this duel.”

Yuma holds her cards in front of her face as Kakeru draws. “I’m always reckless,” she mutters, “I’ve just gotten better accustomed to this deck.”

Of course, Kakeru plays a field spell that flips her card face up, turns the duel field into a soccer stadium, and makes Yuma’s monsters don tacky soccer uniforms.

“Crimes against fashion,” Yuma says, rolling her eyes.

Of course, that’s not all the field does. Yuma plays smart, but Kakeru’s field spell keeps turning things in his favor, and Yuma’s temper, already short, is getting the better of her as Kakeru taunts her and trash talks her deck. Yuma is about to finally tell the rude little boy off when she’s beaten to it by two spectators, a couple of guys who make Kakeru’s face go pale.

“Oh!” Takashi cries, “That’s where I know his name! His brothers are soccer stars! Kakeru used to be a soccer star, too.”

Kakeru’s eye twitches. “What’re you two doing here?” He growls. “I don’t need you interfering with my life.”

Yuma calls to Kakeru, “If you’re a soccer star then what are you doing here? Isn’t it soccer season or whatever?”

“I quit soccer!” Kakeru shouts. “I got sick of my brothers trying to tell me what to do so I gave it up!”

Yuma frowns. “No you didn’t.”

“Excuse me?!” Kakeru cries, “Don’t tell me what I did and didn’t do!”

“I’m just calling it like I see it!” Yuma says. “You walk around with a soccer ball and kick it at people, you wear a soccer uniform, you play a soccer field spell that turns the duel field into a soccer stadium and makes monsters wear soccer uniforms, your attacks are based on soccer plays, and you say you gave up the sport? It looks to me like you’re just looking for ways to warp soccer into what you think it ought to be, rather than what it actually is.”

“Oh?” Kakeru asks. “And what do you think soccer is?”

“A team sport,” Yuma says, “And one you can’t handle because you’re selfish, and want everything to be all about you. You can’t stand sharing the ball with others, can you?”

“So what?” Kakeru scoffs, “I don’t need team efforts, I can count on myself.”

“Breathing is a team effort,” Yuma says scathingly. “Trees cleans the air that you breathe in, and your lungs transport oxygen to the organs in your body via your bloodstream. That’s a system of different parts coming together to complete a task. You gonna stop breathing because you hate teamwork?”

Kakeru looks dumbfounded, and Yuma takes advantage of his confusion to play a combo which tilts the scales in her favor. She finally gets to launch a decent attack at Kakeru, and as his life points drop she calls, “That’s the difference between you and me! I’m not afraid to lean on others when I know I can’t do things by myself! I know that my monsters need to work together if we’re going to win!”

“We?” Kakeru echoes. “Who’s we?”

“Me and my monsters, duh!” Yuma says. “Watch, I’ll show you!”

Astral laughs. “Indeed, Yuma! Let’s do this and win your first heart piece!”

 _“Our_ first heart piece,” Yuma corrects under her breath.

She does win, but it’s close, and as the AR field deactivates, Yuma rushes across the now-empty space to help Kakeru to his feet. She’s surprised to find him laughing.

“Did you hit your head?” She asks him as she holds out her hand.

“No,” Kakeru says, taking Yuma’s hand. She hauls him up and he explains, “It’s been a while since I got so wrapped up in a game.”

“You’re a pretty good duelist,” Yuma says. “I’m sure you could be a great soccer player if you channel that energy back into it, and learn to respect your teammates.”

“We agree,” one of Kakeru’s brothers says. The both of them walk over and pat their brother on the back.

“I know we were hard on you,” the other brother says, “But you were pretty disrespectful to your team.”

Kakeru looks appropriately sorry. “Yeah, I see that now.”

“We would love to have you back on the team,” his brother says.

Kakeru smiles. He reaches into his pocket and holds out a glittering red gem to Yuma.

She accepts it with a smile of her own. “Good luck with everything,” she says sincerely.

Kakeru leaves with his brothers, and Yuma’s friends rush to her side.

“Now we really need to find opponents of our own,” Tokunosuke says, “Yuma’s already got her second heart piece!”

Yuma tucks the gem into her pocket alongside her frame. Two pieces down, three to go. Assuming she gets pieces that all fit together.

 

* * *

 

“We really shouldn’t be here,” Kotori whimpers.

“This is important!” Yuma says, shading her eyes against the sun as she looks up.

Astral doesn’t know what they’re doing in this place, Yuma said they were looking for something but he missed what that something was. It’s okay though, this is easily the most interesting human establishment he’s been to, aside from Yuma’s house. He’s seen skyscrapers, but he’s never seen them as they were being built. There’s a crash and Yuma screams, but she does that all the time so Astral can’t really say he’s bothered.

Astral follows the beams of metal, inspecting where they intersect. What holds them together? It can’t merely be these little hexagonal shapes, can it? He looks down, wanting to ask Yuma, but she’s now talking to a boy Astral has never seen before. He goes a little higher, to where parts of the building are even less developed. There are hulking tools placed on wooden bridges, deadly looking things. Astral reaches out to touch them, and of course his hand passes right through them. Sometimes he really dislikes that he’s no more than a wraith on this world. He knows what it means when something rough or smooth, warm or cold, hard or soft, so he can only assume that he was able to touch things at some point, probably on Astral world.

Yuma lets out a hoot and Astral looks down. Oh, she’s dueling now. She’s smiling, which is nice to see. Lately Yuma’s been so upset that not even dueling could lift her spirits; everything just seemed to remind her of Rio. And after seeing Rio, lying in that bed, and hearing about what she goes through, Astral admits that Yuma has reason to be upset. Still, he’s regretted not being able to cheer her up.

Astral floats above the duel field and watches. Yuma doesn’t seem to need help with this one. It’s nice to see her have more confidence in herself. She knows her deck, how to use every card in a way that will support her next move. Astral grins as he watches Yuma win. She looks so happy, but her opponent is another story.

Astral floats down in time to hear the kid gripe, “How did I lose to such weak monsters?”

Yuma frowns. “Size doesn’t always mean strength.” She looks around and points to a beam. “Look at those screws! Those little things hold huge beams together, and they need to be just as high quality as the rest of the building material, if not more.” She grins at the boy. “Never underestimate things that don’t look strong.”

The boy smiles. “So, what were you guys doing here anyway?”

“Looking for some joker who threatened my friend,” Yuma growls, her scowl back. “I heard he likes to hang around abandoned buildings, but today was not my lucky day.”

Astral sighs. Grumpy Yuma is back.

 

* * *

 

Yuma grabs Kotori and knocks her aside as a fireball blasts a hole into the sidewalk near them.

“What the heck was up with that?” Yuma gasps, gaping at the hole. She’s not the only one, nearby people are screaming.

“That was real!” Kotori cries.

A girl zooms over on a goddamn pink rocket and leaps off, screaming, “I’m looking for Tsukumo Yuma!”

Yuma gets to her feet. “You’re looking at her, bitch,” she snarls.

The girl stares at Yuma, blinks, and says, “Are you messing with me? I’ll blow you away!”

Yuma stalks over and grabs the girl by her collar. She hauls the girl close and gets in her face. “Do I look like I’m in a joking mood?” Yuma asks her. “I’ve had just about enough near-death experiences.”

The girl looks appropriately frightened. Kotori runs over and puts her hand on Yuma’s arm. “Wait, Yuma, I know her! That’s Anna, she was in my class two years ago.”

Yuma releases Anna’s collar, and Anna points at Yuma. “You can’t be Yuma!” She cries, “Tsukumo Yuma is a boy I had a crush on!”

“Well I’ve always been a girl,” Yuma says, crossing her arms, “And I’m a year older than Kotori and wasn’t in her class two years ago.”

“Oh,” Anna squeaks.

“Are you thinking of Yuya Tsukune?” Kotori asks.

Anna gasps. “Oh, I think I was.”

“What the hell did he do to you?” Yuma asks Anna.

Anna stomps her foot. “He never met me on the day I was going to confess to him! I’ll never forgive him for breaking my heart!”

Kotori frowns. “Weren’t you like, really mean to Yuya? You bullied him all the time. You made him cry.”

“You made him cry?!” Yuma demands, “And you wonder why he didn’t meet you? Gee, maybe it’s because you were horrible to him. Now you want to what, blow him up? Did you maybe consider apologizing to this poor kid?”

Anna looks at her feet. “I…didn’t,” she admits.

Yuma grabs Kotori’s hand. “Well start there! And don’t go blowing holes in the sidewalk, if someone in a wheelchair comes by, now they need to go in the street to get around this hole!”

Anna nods sheepishly, and Yuma and Kotori walk away. “And people call me vindictive,” Yuma mutters.

 

* * *

 

Yuma empties her pockets and counts the change. She sighs, “I don’t think this is enough for lunch, not in this city.”

Kotori pouts. “Why doesn’t this part of Heartland have any food carts?”

Yuma sits back and rubs her stomach. “If it weren’t so hot I would have carried some food with me.”

“Oh? You gals got nothin’ to eat?” A deep voice asks.

Yuma and Kotori look around. A man is standing behind them, carrying a large basket on his back. He reaches into the basket and pulls out a handful of vegetables. He holds them out. “I grew these myself!” he says proudly. “Feel like a healthy snack?”

Kotori looks delighted, but Yuma holds back. “I’m not supposed to take food from strangers,” she says.

The man chuckles. “Aye, that’s good advice.” He plucks a carrot from the bundle of vegetables in his hand and takes a bite. “It’s perfectly safe,” he says.

So Yuma and Kotori thank the man and each take a cucumber.

“Mm!” Kotori says. “They’re really good!”

“They are!” Yuma agrees.

“Did you grow these?” Kotori asks.

The man blushes and nods. “I did. My name is Housaku Yasai, and I’m a vegetable farmer! I grow all vegetables, but tomatoes are my favorite!” His face lights up. “If I win the Duel Carnival, I’m going to use my wish to turn this city into a tomato paradise!”

Yuma almost chokes. “T-tomato?” She sputters.

“Indeed!” Yasai cries. “And would you girls like to be mascots at the park? You can be tomato girls!”

Kotori squeaks. Yuma holds her stomach once more.

“No thank you,” She groans, “I can’t stand tomatoes.”

Yasai looks crestfallen. “Can’t stand tomatoes?! But they’re amazing!”

“Not for me!” Yuma cries. “I can’t eat them!”

“Can’t, or won’t?” Yasai asks. “I challenge you to a duel, with my special Basket Death Match!”

Yuma blinks at him. “What?”

“Basket Death Match?” A man’s voice calls. Kotori, Yuma, and Yasai look up. A man is standing on a light post (how extra) looking down at them. “Yasai, are you behind the duelists we’ve found with veggies stuffed in their mouths?”

Yasai nods and gestures to his basket. “Before my opponent attacks me, they must draw a vegetable from this basket and eat it! Only then can they attack!”

“WHAT?!” Yuma shrieks. “That’s total unfair! You don’t tell them what’s in the basket?!”

“It’s vegetables,” Yasai says.

“Including tomatoes?” Yuma asks scathingly.

“You have something against vegetables?” The man asks Yuma. “As a referee, I approve of this rule.”

“Then you’re a lousy referee!” Yuma yells. “What if someone draws a vegetable that they’re allergic or intolerant to, like me?!”

“Allergic to a vegetable?” Another voice asks. Everyone turns to see a woman standing on a lamp post. The woman frowns at Yuma. “Explain.”

Yuma folds her arms. “I have an intolerance to tomatoes.”

“That sounds fake,” the man on the lamp says.

“Quit interrupting me!” Yuma screams. “If you did a little research, you would know that tomatoes are one of the most acidic vegetables!” Yuma frowns at Yasai. “As a grower of vegetables, you should know that, too! My stomach can’t take the acidity of tomatoes, especially not if I eat just straight tomatoes. I have to eat them with other things, or take medication to keep me from getting acid reflux.”

“But you eat pizza,” Kotori says.

Yuma turns to her. “Well, pizza isn’t just tomatoes, even the tomato sauce isn’t just tomatoes. And I only eat one slice, with plenty of water, and I take medication before or after I eat it. Haven’t you seen me swallowing the pills?”

Kotori’s eyes light up. “Oh you do! Is that why that one time we had a pizza party at school, you didn’t eat anything?”

Yuma nods. “That’s right, because I don’t generally carry the medication around with me, unless I know ahead of time I’ll be eating tomatoes, or I know I can dilute it by eating something else right away.” She turns back to Yasai. “I haven’t eaten anything besides that cucumber since seven this morning, and I don’t have my medication. So no, I can’t go eating straight tomatoes.” She nods at the basket Yasai was going to give her. “What’s in the bag?”

“Tomatoes,” Yasai admits. “Bred with other vegetables, but…mostly tomato.”

“Yasai,” the woman on the lamp post calls, “Is a tomato sensitivity something you were aware of?”

The man rubs the back of his neck. “Aye, I…suppose it was.”

Yuma sighs and rubs her head. “Loving tomatoes is one thing, but you have to enjoy everything, even healthy vegetables, in moderation. If a person eats nothing but carrots, the beta-carotene can turn their skin yellow or orange. A tomato city would be terrible for someone with acid sensitivity, why not wish for a vegetable city so people can enjoy vegetables from around the world?”

Yasai lowers his head. “I suppose I was so wrapped up in the idea…”

“You lost all your senses?” Yuma asks. “That’s so typical.” She winks at Kotori, who holds back a giggle. Yuma looks back at Yasai. “I’ll still duel you, as long as you promise not to make me sick.”

“I can do that,” Yasai promises.

Yuma wins the duel, but Yasai’s tomato deck gives her acid reflux by proxy (not really, but dang does it feel like it). Yuma gets a heart piece from Yasai, it’s not the end for the other duelist as he still has several more heart pieces. They part ways, wishing each other luck, and Yuma decides it’s time for her and Kotori to see what her grandma’s got cooking up.


End file.
